violently ill by mid-morning and have their skin turn a ghastly grey blue tint; they would become severely dehydrated and die shortly after. The city’s inhabitants walked on eggshells in fear for their lives.
“Children, it has been decided that we will not stay in the city a moment longer than we have to with cholera rising once again. Prepare to load the train tomorrow morning as we are heading west at once. We will have a large group this time, so please, do your best to be courteous and kind to anyone in need.”
Typically the Sisters would pre-arrange trips with very specific stops along the route however, in this emergent instance children frantically boarded the trains and set out for destinations unknown. The conductor agreed to stop in all major cities bound west in hopes of finding the children new homes.
Edmund and I were once again under the guardianship of Sister Agnes as we headed north west. Our route was slightly different this time, as we would head further north and go further west. We had near one hundred children on our train; all the children less than six years of age were with us in coach, while the older children rode in the cramped quarters of the boxcars. It was my duty to help Sister Agnes with all the small children, not just Edmund. Edmund was growing more plump and cheerful and had several more words to his vocabulary. He could even recognize letters now when I read to him. Although his features grew darker he was a precious boy who would have no trouble being adopted this trip.
We had two additional chaperones on our trip this run, Mr. and Mrs. Porter who helped with the infants, of which there were at least a dozen and a half. The infants needed constant dressing, changing, bundling, and feeding, which made me wonder why anyone who had a choice would prefer an infant to Eddie. I decided somewhat selfishly, I would train Eddie to use the potty like a proper big lad and alleviate the necessity to change his nappy. He did very well on his first few tries. The trick was getting him to realize when he had to make a dooty and tell me in time to get to the potty which was several cars behind us and therefore took some time getting to.
Wanting very much to please me Eddie eventually succeeded in becoming potty trained increasing his odds of going to a good home. I imagined a loving young mother who would dote on him endlessly and a father that would teach him to chop wood and feed the barn animals. Eddie already knew all the sounds the barn animals made and could sing a few lines from ‘Mary had a little lamb’…it was quite precious.
When I told Agnes of our success at potty training she pushed her frizzy brown hair behind her ears and pulled me in for a hug. It was the first hug I had received from an adult since my mother passed away and I stiffened at the sensation the embrace left me with.
“You did well, Mary, now surely Edmund will be adopted and you can help me with the other toddlers in need of attention.” She gave me a quick smile and was off preparing for our first stop.
As usual our first stop was in Pennsylvania and despite the fact our stop was not advertised in the paper it was a huge success, eight of the infants were given new homes and a dozen of the older children were exchanged for work to farms, mills, and even to hotels. Eddie and I were clinging to each other when a dapper couple came towards us. The young woman had brassy hair and a face full of freckles. Her curly locks attracted Edmund and as she approached he reached out to feel her tresses. She put her hands out in hopes Edmund would come to her but instead he clung tighter to me. I leaned into the lady with Edmund and tried to unhinge his little fingers from my dress. I asked him, “Eddie, what does the bunny do?” and he replied by squinting up his teeny nose and making a snuffling sound. The woman laughed at this and tried again to pry Eddie from my arms. After much coaxing with a grape sucker Edmund got
“Children, it has been decided that we will not stay in the city a moment longer than we have to with cholera rising once again. Prepare to load the train tomorrow morning as we are heading west at once. We will have a large group this time, so please, do your best to be courteous and kind to anyone in need.”
Typically the Sisters would pre-arrange trips with very specific stops along the route however, in this emergent instance children frantically boarded the trains and set out for destinations unknown. The conductor agreed to stop in all major cities bound west in hopes of finding the children new homes.
Edmund and I were once again under the guardianship of Sister Agnes as we headed north west. Our route was slightly different this time, as we would head further north and go further west. We had near one hundred children on our train; all the children less than six years of age were with us in coach, while the older children rode in the cramped quarters of the boxcars. It was my duty to help Sister Agnes with all the small children, not just Edmund. Edmund was growing more plump and cheerful and had several more words to his vocabulary. He could even recognize letters now when I read to him. Although his features grew darker he was a precious boy who would have no trouble being adopted this trip.
We had two additional chaperones on our trip this run, Mr. and Mrs. Porter who helped with the infants, of which there were at least a dozen and a half. The infants needed constant dressing, changing, bundling, and feeding, which made me wonder why anyone who had a choice would prefer an infant to Eddie. I decided somewhat selfishly, I would train Eddie to use the potty like a proper big lad and alleviate the necessity to change his nappy. He did very well on his first few tries. The trick was getting him to realize when he had to make a dooty and tell me in time to get to the potty which was several cars behind us and therefore took some time getting to.
Wanting very much to please me Eddie eventually succeeded in becoming potty trained increasing his odds of going to a good home. I imagined a loving young mother who would dote on him endlessly and a father that would teach him to chop wood and feed the barn animals. Eddie already knew all the sounds the barn animals made and could sing a few lines from ‘Mary had a little lamb’…it was quite precious.
When I told Agnes of our success at potty training she pushed her frizzy brown hair behind her ears and pulled me in for a hug. It was the first hug I had received from an adult since my mother passed away and I stiffened at the sensation the embrace left me with.
“You did well, Mary, now surely Edmund will be adopted and you can help me with the other toddlers in need of attention.” She gave me a quick smile and was off preparing for our first stop.
As usual our first stop was in Pennsylvania and despite the fact our stop was not advertised in the paper it was a huge success, eight of the infants were given new homes and a dozen of the older children were exchanged for work to farms, mills, and even to hotels. Eddie and I were clinging to each other when a dapper couple came towards us. The young woman had brassy hair and a face full of freckles. Her curly locks attracted Edmund and as she approached he reached out to feel her tresses. She put her hands out in hopes Edmund would come to her but instead he clung tighter to me. I leaned into the lady with Edmund and tried to unhinge his little fingers from my dress. I asked him, “Eddie, what does the bunny do?” and he replied by squinting up his teeny nose and making a snuffling sound. The woman laughed at this and tried again to pry Eddie from my arms. After much coaxing with a grape sucker Edmund got
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